Trusted Since 1984

An idea for a new type of company was born, one where he can call his own shots, and make community-driven marketable products. Company President Kurt was in partnership with NFL Hall of Famer Gayle Sayers on selling view Finders but ultimately saw more potential with the Sawyer Extractor Pump Kit.

The Extractor Pump Kit was shown to Roger Fortier and the wheels where set in motion. SV marketing (Sports View Marketing) was shut down and Gayle Sayers got on board with the Extractor Pump Kit.

While attending a conference in 1984 at the University of Arizona, John Sullivan and Doc Forgey were leading the way in First Aid Kit discussions when wilderness medicine was determining what various protocols would be for specific real world scenarios. Sawyer was able to help build higher standard First Aid Kits that used the same boxes as the Extractor Pump Kit.

Sawyer won the sunscreen bid for the US Military during Desert Storm.

The founders of Coulston who originally developed Permethrin Fabric Treatment for military uniforms perfected an odorless after drying consumer grade formula. Sawyer went on to acquire Coulston. Permethrin insect repellent becomes widely available in consumer markets.

The still popular Controlled Release Time Release Lotion comes on the market and briefly wears the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

Tulane University proved that using permethrin treated bed sheets reduced malaria by 70-80%. A study on permethrin treated shawls in Horn of Africa was also conducted.

After being introduced to some water filtration technology through Passport Health, we begin to work with Innova which was not only the closest company to us but also had the most advanced fibers on the market at this time

Sawyer's proprietary Hollow Fiber Membrane filters and purifiers enter the market.

The active ingredient Picaridin is added to our topical lineup. Temporarily sold under the "Fisherman's Formula" name due to it's gear safe nature. However the formula was very well received by an even wider audience so we later dropped the "Fisherman's Formula" name.

July - Water With Blessings formed and installed the first Sawyer Filters.

Sawyer Partners with GCW with bucket filters

Give Clean Water starts tracking household data outcomes with filters - GCW started using basic GIS now, and upgraded to full-blown GIS in 2012.

Once other NGOs saw what the filters were doing in Haiti, they were impressed and now interested

We knew that Picaridin was a good active but all the 5-15% formulas up until now were not effective.

Begins a partnership with The Last Well to bring border to border clean water to all of Liberia. The Liberia project had already started but they were struggling with "the last mile" installations.  That is when they realized that the tracking dynamic was vital to the success of these rural installations and prove that these filters were not going to get people sick.

Clean water project for all of the outer Marshall Islands in every household on the way to border-to-border clean water by 2022.

We were excited to offer this to the domestic audience but we are even more excited to see the impact these systems can make internationally.

The next major project starts, bringing clean water to one of the world's largest slums with the Tap Filter.

Meet the incredible women behind KIO - the all-volunteer group that led the collaborative charge between community and government to help bring a sustainable clean water access to the Marshall Islands.